Filter

An Alarc’h

$4.00

Scroll down to listen.

Tamsin Dearnley’s arrangement of the traditional Breton tune “An Alarc’h” (“The Swan”) is for solo lever or pedal harp. It includes two versions at different levels. Scroll down to listen and for additional notes.

This piece is available as a PDF download for $4.00 and includes both versions.

Pages to print: 4 pgs.

Duration: 2:19

Note: This piece is formatted for A4 paper size; use the settings in your printer dialog box to get the best fit for your paper size.

Description

Listen

Notes from the Arranger

This exquisite, haunting melody is a traditional Breton tune. It appears in an 1839 collection of folk songs, although it is probably much older than that. The original Breton lyrics tell of the return from exile of the Breton prince Jean de Montfort (known as “The Swan of Montfort”), and his subsequent defeat of the French army under Bertrand du Guesclin in 1379. The melody is better known today as the tune to the Scottish poem “The Twa Corbies” after it was popularized as such during the folk revival of the 1970s.

There are two versions in this download: a (really pretty) easy solo with just rolled 1-5-8 chords in the left hand, and the version that you see in the video, which is a little more intermediate. The ‘easy’ version is suitable for smaller harps as the range is only D3-D6; the intermediate version requires a larger 34-string harp.

Don’t let the constantly changing time signatures put you off—it is very intuitive to play; it looks more complicated than it is!

Additional information
Instrumentation

Genre

Composer

Artist

Level

,

Harp Type

Nationality

Reviews (0)

Reviews

There are no reviews yet.

Be the first to review “An Alarc’h”

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.